1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mapping and navigation, and in particular to location based services (LBS).
2. Background of the Related Art
Conventional navigation solutions obtain a geographic location of a client/user device (e.g. a vehicle, a mobile phone, etc.) and provide route instructions and navigation services (e.g. route calculation, point of interest (POI) lookup, etc.) accordingly. Route instructions provided by a navigation solution indicate a set of maneuvers to be performed at specified locations. A maneuver describes an action that is required to leave one street segment and enter a next street segment along a navigated route.
Conventional navigation solutions exhibit an electronic map display while providing navigation services, to enable users to orient themselves in the real world.
FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative example of a conventional electronic map display.
As depicted in FIG. 3, an electronic map display 300 typically depicts a geographic location of a device 310 and a direction of travel.
Current solutions for providing a map display 300 are not optimal, because they either label roads in a haphazard manner or restrict the roads for which road labels 312a-312e may be shown on a map display 300, to roads that intersect a current route 314. Current solutions also often limit the number of road labels 312a-312e that may be shown on a map display 300 based on map zoom level.
In particular, each zoom level on a conventional map display is assigned a static label density, indicating a maximum number of road labels allowed on the map display at that zoom level. A conventional map display always contains a number of road labels that is less than or equal to a static label density (i.e. a maximum number of road labels) assigned to a current zoom level.
Some existing navigation solutions adjust map zoom level dynamically, in accordance with a speed a device receiving navigation services is travelling. In this case, the number of road labels presented on a map display increases or decreases as is required to adhere to a static label density defined at each zoom level.
FIGS. 4A and 4B depict an illustrative example of road labels on a map display at different zoom levels.
As depicted in FIG. 4A, a map display with a high zoom level 400 is typically limited to fewer road labels than is a map display with a low zoom level 420, shown in FIG. 4B.
For example, a map display with a low zoom level 420, e.g. zoom level 0, may be limited to ≦12 road labels 410a-410i (FIG. 4B), whereas a map display with a high zoom level 400, e.g. zoom level 10, may be limited to ≦3 road labels 430a, 430b (FIG. 4A).
A static label density may cause a map display to look cluttered, or may influence a navigation solution to exhibit only minimal information on a map display, in attempts to avoid clutter. Due to use of a static label density, conventional navigation solutions are forced to present either an uncluttered map display with little information (e.g. road names, city names, etc.) or a cluttered map display with more information.